Refractories projector



W'J'H. BLATCHLEY. -REFRACTORIES PROJECTOR. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24.131.

Patentewov; 14,1922.

rFPLFFGM iJmE INYENTOR BY W MATToRNEYs WITNQSS Patented Nov. i922.

I or r, w i la t afar-tr ll and REFBACTOBIES PROJECTOR.

Application filed March 24:, 1921. Serial No. 455,047.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, l VILLIAM H. BLATOH- LEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Refractories Projectors, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for projecting material into a furnace. -More particularly the invention is concerned with means for throwing gramular refractory matcrial into the back of an open hearth furnace, for. building up the'bottom thereof, or patchin hole therein.

The objects of the invention are to provide apparatus which may be charged outside the furnace, and which may be used to project the granular refractory material to any desired part of the furnace bottom or wall in the form of a mass of fine material, which mass will be more or less coherent,

somewhat like a shovelful of such material projected manually. 1 Other objects of the invention comprise a receptacle of special form and mounting for holding the fine materialthat is to be discharged, means for cushioning the projecting stroke, and generally a construction rendering such apparatus efficient and practical.

Referring to the drawings Fig. l is a plan view of my apparatus. with all superfluous parts removed; Figiit is a side elevation thereof; and 3 is a partial vertical section onthe line 3'3 of Fig. 2. p

.In buildingvup open hearth furnaces, ma terial of a highly refractory nature, such as magnesite or dolomite, is used. This isordinarily prepared by a burning operation in a rotary kiln, then granulated, and shipped to the steel works. In making open hearth furnace bottoms it iscustomary to form a base of refractory bricks, and then to apply successive layers of granular refractory 311aerial. The heat the furnace is continuously applied, each layer is exposed to this heat for some time, the, material fuses or bonds together, and the successive layers so applied form a. composite-mass or wall, similar to concrete. This wall after setting under heat is strong enough to support the molten steel that is refined in such furnaces.

Heretofore it has been customary to charge granular refractory material into the furnace for building the bottoms thereof, by,

shov ling by hand, or by b owing it in with an air blast. The latter method is objectionable because the air blast stirred up a great deal of dust. which settles in and clogs up the checker work of the furnace recuperator. The first method is likewise objectionable, as it exposes the workmen to intense heat, and the material is not properly placedv Furthermore, it is diificult to accurately measure the material with either of the two means above referred to.

My invention provides means to project measured charges of the granular material into the furnace properly directed so that they will be applied to the furnace bottom at the desired points, substantially in the form of loose masses. A, minimum of dust is stirred up, and it is not necessary to water-cool the mechanism used for such projection.

Referring to the drawings, which illusirate an apparatus suitable for carrying out my invention, a base member comprising a plate 1, side frames 2, and mounted. upon Wheels 3 is adapted to move along the line of furnaces upon tracks 4. An upright. member 5 is positioned at the middle point of the table, and pivotally mounted thereon and free to turn with respect to the table or plate 1, is a. supporting member 6, which carries a lateral extension 7, to which. is

two rigidly connected frame members 20.

These frame members are in the form of channel irons as illustrated in Fig. 3.

Mounted upon cross members 21, which are bolted between the two frame members are two aligned cylinders and 26. The cylinder 25 has inlet and exhaust valves at each end, the inlet valves being connected to the pipes and 31, and the valves being controlled by the members 32 and 33 as in standard steam engine practice. The cvlinder 26 has slots cut out of its intermediate' pbrtions, but has no other inlet or en haust valves. Consequently the cylinder 26 forms an. air dash pot at each end for a piston 86,fastened on the end of haft 37, which extends through a stuffing-box in the cylinder head-38. The shaft 37 extends on through the cylinder 25, and carries inside that cylinder a pi to 40 which isfadapted to be driven in each direction by fluid pres sure, controlled by the valve mechanism above referred to. Beyond the cylinder t0 the shaft 37 is connected to a container of special form, adapted to receive granular refractory material which is to. be charged into the furnace. This container comprises a back wall 50, side walls 51, and bottom 52, but it has no top and no wall at the forward end. The bottom inclines slightly toward the open end of the shovel. Tln'ough the back wall a series of perforations54c'is provided. A guard member 55 extending across the back wall 50 and riveted. thereto above the perforations 54:, screens the perforations from any solid material that may be poured into the charging receptacle.

This receptacle is supported by rollers (il which ride in a guide (it mounted in the frame members 20, as illustrated at the left of Figs. 1 and. 2.

The frame members 20 are pivotally mounted on the trunnions ll and snpporting member 6. A pair of suppm'ting bars are attached to a rod. '71, extending beneath the frame members 20. it their upper ends these bars carry a crossbar 73, to which are attached a pair of swiveling head members 74-, which carry gears 75, threaded upon screws 7 6, which extend. down to and are pivotally connected to an extension 7 from the supporting member 6. lVorms 78 011 the shaft of the gear wheel .79 drive the wheels 75, and consequently cause the screws 7 6 to move into or out of the members 74. A motor is provided for driving the wheel 7 9, and by this means the frame 20 may be raised or lowered out of its horizontal direction, as much as desired. The pinion 8 may be rotated to drive the rack 9 through any desired angle.

, Therefore by these two means of adjustment the track formed by the frame membersQO may begiven any desired angle of inclination and turned through any angle with reference to the pin 5 as a center. quently the projecting mechanism may be directed at any desired point in a furnace,

Situated above the receptacle is a hopper 85, adapted to receive the granular refractory material from any suitable source, and to store it. This hopper is of course carried upon suitable extensions from the supporting member 6, and travels with the mm chine. A suitable mechanism is housed in the boa; 86 for delivering uniform charges from the hopper the receptacle as desired.

The operation of this device is as follows:

machine is moved along the track at to proper position before an open hearth furnace, the bottom. of which is to. be built up. By driving the pinion 8 the frame is di rected at the door of the furnace, and the desired inplination of the track is procured by means of a screw member 76 as previthat cylinder of suitable length.

Come 7 ously described. Then a charge of granular refractory material is dropped from the hopper through the measuring mechanism held in box 86, into the receptacle 50. The fluid pressure, such as compressed air or steam is admitted to the cylinder 25, the piston being in the position as shown in Fig. 2. The latter is driven quickly forward the length of the cylinder,

but is stopped at the forward end of the stroke by reason of the dash pot formed at the left end of cylinder 26, when the piston 36 has passed beyond the ends of the slots 35. Theresult is to project the charge of refractory material in a loose mass into the furnace and to the desired spot therein. The stroke may be made as rapidly as desired, by controlling the fluid pressure admitted to the cylinder 25, and by making Immediately thereafter pressure is admitted to the other end of cylinder 25, withdrawing the receptacle for another charge. The operation is then repeated As will be obvious, the stroke of the piston is cushioned at each end by means of the air dash pots at the ends of cylinder 26.

It is desirable that the charge of loose granular material be carried in as compact a form as possible,and in order that this may be done the back wall of the receptacle is made either perpendicular, or inclined forwardly. This is to prevent the fine mawhich would be the case if that wall sloped backward, as in the ordinary shovel form.

In order that the mass of loose material may be permitted to leave the receptacle in a more or less coherent form, that is to say not scattered or broken into anything like a stream of material, perforations 54: ar provided on the back of the shovel; The screen 55 prevents any of the fine granulated material from getting into these holes to clog them up or to leak out. At the same time when the charge suddenly leaves the receptacle, air is drawn in through the perforations 54L behind the screen 5-3, thus permitting the breaking of what would be a partial vacuum behind the charge, and i so permitting the charge to go "forward as amass. The inclined bottom of the receptacle and the air release behind permit the charge to leave the receptacle en masse and without appreciable resistance or friction,

ceiving the refractory material, said scoop having a rear wall and an open front, a track for guiding the scoop, means todrive the scoop forward on the track at a high rate of speed, and cushioning means to stop the scoop at the forward end of the travel.

3. In an apparatus for projecting granular refractory material into a furnace, a receptacle for receiving the granular material, a track for said receptacle, means to drive the receptacle forward at a high rate of speed, and a dash pot adapted to limit and cushion the forward movement of the receptacle.

f. An apparatus for projecting granular refractory material int a furnace, comprising a receptacle for holding the granular material, and means to project the receptacle forward to the mouth of the furnace and there to suddenly stop it, the receptacle co1nprising side walls, a rearwall, and an open front, and perforations in the rear wall near the bottom thereof whereby to admit air behind the charge of loose material as it leaves the receptacle.

5. In a machine for projecting granular refractory material into a furnace, the con1- bination of a receptacle adapted to receive, transport and discharge through its front end the granular material, a track to support and guide said receptacle, fluid operated means to drive the said receptacle along the said track, cushioning means adapted to arrest the movement of the receptacle at each end of its travel, and means to adjust the position of said track.

6. In a machine for projecting granular refractory material into a furnace, a receptacle open at its forward end adapted to receive, transport and discharge granular material by forward stroke of the receptacle, a track adapted to support and guide the receptacle, means to drive the receptacle on the track, and means to cushion the movement of the said receptacle at each end. of its stroke, such cushioning means comprising a piston surrounded by a cylinder substantially open throughout its intermediate port-ion and closed at each end, said piston being coextensivewith the length of the stroke of the receptacle, whereby to form an air cushion to limit the forward and backward movement of the receptacle without interfering with its intermediate movement.

In. testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

WILLIAM H. BLATCHLEY. lVitness: EDWIN O. J OHNS. 

